Empty Space
by sybilsbasil
Summary: Pairing: Mick/Megan Warning: Attempted rape (mentioned), PTSD, Depression ... Can an unfortunate event help bring these old lovers back together? Mick will never give up on Megan.
1. Chapter 1

It was around 10 pm on a Friday, Mick was sat in his study, in a mood, he didn't understand why he was so bothered. 'It's only a date' he reminded himself whenever he felt the urge to smash something, 'You're not even married to her, it's been 17 years Mick! Get a grip of yourself'  
But all he could picture was Megan, with another man.

Mick had never fully gotten over Megan and was incredibly jealous whenever he thought of her with someone who wasn't him. This jealous streak was surfaced this evening when Abby had casually informed him that her mother had a date tonight. He quickly excused himself from the table and locked himself in his study, refusing to talk to anyone.

Around an hour had passed, he had busied himself with designing the girls some seats for the fairy garden. He was so focused on this that he nearly didn't hear his phone ringing.

He lifted the phone to his ear, uttering a simple "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was extremely serious and professional, "May I speak with Mick O'Brien please?"

"This is he" he replied quickly, he had a nasty feeling forming in his stomach.

"Hi Mick, this is Anita from Chesapeake Hospital" she started, Mick sat up straight, automatically becoming worried, Anita then continued "You're listed as the emergency contact for Megan O'Brien-"

Mick jumped up, grabbing his keys "Oh my God! Is she okay? What happened?" he questioned, rushing outside to his car.

"Yes sir, she'll be fine, and I'm not permitted to disclose any information over the phone, a doctor will fill you in when you arrive," she said pitifully, hearing the worry in his voice.

"Okay, I'll be there soon" he replied, before hanging up the phone and starting the car.


	2. Chapter 2

The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever, Mick knew he had run no less than 3 red lights on the way there. Once he arrived at the hospital, it took a few minutes to locate a parking spot, once he had finally parked, he rushed inside the building.

"Hello, I received a call about a patient here, Megan O'Brien, where can I find her?" Mick asked the woman at the front desk.

The woman glanced up at Mick then typed something on her computer. "And how are you related to Ms O'Brien?" she asked.

"I'm her next of kin" he fibbed, "Where is she?"

"Down the hall in room 103" The receptionist replied, pointing to the room where Megan was.

"Thanks" he said, absently, speed-walking down the hall. He saw the room and knocked gently, not even waiting for an answer as he pushed open the door.  
Mick's gaze fell immediately upon Megan, laying on a bed wearing a hospital gown. From what he could see, she had a black eye and was very upset about something.

"Megan!" Mick exclaimed "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh Mick, I'm so glad you're here!" Megan said, holding out her hand. He took it immediately and sat on the bed, next to her legs. As he looked at her, he noticed a red hand mark on her neck. "Meggie, how did you get hurt?" he pressed gently.

"Don't freak out, okay? she said softly.

"Why would I freak out, Meg? Just tell me what happened, I'm not promising anything." Mick replied, with a stern face.

"Well, it was... my date" she said quietly and her head dropped down to mask the tears that threatened to roll down her face, using his free hand, Mick tucked his fingers under her chin and lifted up her head, wiping the stray tears with his thumb. "Carry on Meg" he said softly, he needed to know the whole story so he could help her. She took a deep breath and continued, "Well, we went back to his place after the date, and he wanted to.. do stuff" she started "when I said no, he tried to force me and I had to fight him off, then the neighbours called the police because of the commotion, they got there just in time to pull him off me and call an ambulance. And that's it, I have a black eye and some bruised ribs, but I'll be okay"

"I'll kill him! Where is he?!" Mick said, heading towards the door, Megan grabbed hold of his hand again, to try pull him back, but shrieked in pain from the quick movement. Mick turned around and went to her. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" he asked urgently. She nodded unconvincingly "just my ribs" she told him, "anyway, what I wanted to tell you was he's been arrested, there's nothing you can do, please just stay with me Mick"

"Alright" he conceded, he knew he couldn't deny her anything, "When can you go home? I'll take you"

"In a little bit, the doctor has examined me and I'm just waiting for my x-ray results to make sure I don't have any broken ribs." she explained, then she stopped, remembering something. "There's just one problem with me going home..."

"Yeah? What's that then?" he asked, looking into her blue eyes.

"That jerk tore my dress! so I have nothing to wear home" she began, then said "and I bought that dress on sale! and I looked great in it"

Mick chuckled softly, "how about this" he started "I have a spare shirt in my car, that I wore to a conference the other day, you could wear that if you wanted?" She nodded a little too eagerly for her liking, "That'd be great, thank you"

"Okay, I'll be right back" he said, speeding out the room.

Megan rested her head against the pillows, she had always loved wearing Mick's shirts when they were married, they were always way to big for her and that made them super comfortable, when she left him she took one of his shirts and would always wear it for bed, but she got rid of it once the smell of Mick faded out of it.  
A few minutes later, Mick was back in the room, he put the shirt at the foot of Megan's bed, as she still needed the results. A nurse walked into the room and presented them with some antibiotics, for Megan's rib pain. As the nurse was leaving she told them that "the radiologist is on his way down to give you your x-ray results."

Mick hoped that the radiologist wouldn't be long as he could see Megan was getting tired and irritable. 10 minutes passed, then Megan yelled out "Where is he?!" she really just wanted to get home. "I'll go see" Mick told her and stood up and went into the hall, where he spotted a man having an in-depth conversation with the nurse, that had come into Megan's room. He loudly cleared his throat, the pair looked at him, "Oh, Mr O'Brien" the nurse said and pointed to the man "um, this is your wife's radiologist" Mick didn't even think to correct her mistake by calling him Megan's husband, he just turned to the man "Well, she's ready to go home so if you could hurry up and not keep her waiting, we'd be entirely grateful!" he snapped. "Very well" the other man replied, and headed into Megan's room "I'm sorry for the wait Mrs O'Brien, you'll be happy to know, your ribs have no fractures, they're just badly bruised, now my colleague, gave you some antibiotics is that correct?" he asked, Megan nodded, "right, take one every morning when you wake up, and every night before you go to sleep and you should be right as rain in a few weeks"

"Okay, can I go home now?" she asked, the doctor nodded, then left. "I'll wait outside whilst you change" Mick said and went into the hall, then the nurse from earlier approached him and handed him a zip-lock bag which contained Megan's belongings, he thanked her then she scurried off to retrieve something else, when she was gone, the door opened and Megan walked out, a pair of heels in her hand. "Mrs O'Brien!" the nurse yelled from the front desk "You need to sign your discharge papers" Megan nodded and then limped over to the desk and quickly scribbled out her signature. The nurse thanked her then said "you're free to go" Mick slipped his arm around Megan's waist to keep her upright as they walked out of the hospital, once they reached the main entrance, Megan stopped to put her shoes on, but before she could put them on, Mick lifted her into his arms, careful not to hurt her, she buried her face into the crook of his neck as he carries her across the car park to his car, he unlocked the doors then gently placed her in the passenger seat. He then got into the car himself, then began to drive to her house.


	3. Chapter 3

Once they had arrived at Megan's house, Mick helped her out of the car, then carried her into the house and into her bedroom, placing her down on the bed. "Do you want to take a shower or just go straight to sleep?"

"I'll take a shower" she said.

"Alright, I'll get the water running for you then make you some food" he said as he walked into her bathroom and turned on the shower, he then made sure Megan had everything she needed, then headed into the kitchen.

Megan immediately walked into the bathroom and stripped out of Mick's shirt, she folded it and placed it on the cabinet, then she took off her underwear and threw them into the trash, she then got into the shower.

Twenty minutes later, Mick came back into the bedroom with a tray, it had a bowl of tomato soup, as he knew it was Megan's favourite, some crackers and a glass of iced tea. Setting the tray down on the desk, Mick realised the shower was still running. He turned and walked to the bathroom door and knocked. Not receiving an answer, he knocked again.

"Megan are you okay?" he called out. Again, he received no answer so he knocked yet again. Once again he was greeted with silence. "Megan I need to know you're okay, answer me or I'm coming in" When he didn't get a response, he opened the door and walked in. He didn't see her immediately, he turned and looked in the shower and that's when he noticed her sitting on the floor, sobbing in the shower with her arms wrapped around her knees and her head on her arms, the water falling over her.

"Oh honey" Mick murmured, grabbing a towel and opening the shower door. He quickly turned off the water, then bent to wrap the towel around her. He coaxed her to stand up and then helped her out of the shower. "Sit down on the toilet and I'll go get your pyjamas." Mick instructed her, as he turned around to go to her closet but was stopped by Megan's hand on his arm.

"No, I'll just wear that" she said and gestured to the folded shirt on the cabinet. Once she was dressed, Mick directed her into the bedroom and encouraged her to eat the soup. She only had a few spoonful's before pushing the bowl away. "I'm not hungry" she declared, as she got up, "I just want to get into bed"

"Here, I'll help you with the pillows" Mick offered as he started to take the throw pillows off her bed and pile them on the bench at the foot of her bed. Once they were out of the way, he pulled down the duvet and motioned for her to get in the bed. Once she had crawled in he tucked it around her. He then leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Do you need anything before I go?" he asked.

"Um, no thank you" she replied, softly.

He nodded and walked to the door, pausing to turn off the light "Goodnight Meggie, text me at any point if you need anything" he said with a small smile, then he turned to leave. "Mick wait!" she called after him, a few moments later he was back in her room. "What is it?"

"Could you stay with me?" she asked, not wanting to be alone. He nodded, and she smiled for the first time that evening, she then pulled back the duvet next to her, he slipped his shoes off and got in next to her.

"Thanks for being here Mick" she started, shifting a little closer to her ex husband, as she felt a lot safer near him, "I would honestly be lost without you".

She then leaned over to kiss his cheek, Mick grinned then turned to her "I would do anything for you Megan, you know that" he replied, leaning back against the pillows and pulling up the duvet.

She smiled softly, "Goodnight Mick"

"Goodnight Meg, I'll be here if you need anything".


End file.
